13 new cities announced for smart cities Projects

The Union government announced the names of 13 more cities that will be developed under the Centre’s “Smart City Mission.” 
•    Lucknow in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh tops the list, followed by Warangal in Telangana and Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh.
•    These cities were chosen from the 23 that failed to get representation in the first round of a competition held in January, and participated in the “fast-track competition.” 
•    The results were announced by Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on 24th May 2016.
•    Other cities on the list are Chandigarh, Raipur (Chhattisgarh), New Town Kolkata, Bhagalpur (Bihar), Panaji (Goa), Port Blair (Andaman and Nicobar Islands), Imphal (Manipur), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Agartala (Tripura) and Faridabad (Haryana). 
•    The 13 cities selected in the competition have proposed a total investment of Rs. 30,229 crore. 
•    The  investment proposed by 33 cities under the smart city plans is now Rs. 80,789 crore
•    Of the 13 cities that qualified for the project, four are from BJP-ruled States while two are from Congress-governed States.
•    Lucknow is in Samajwadi Party-ruled Uttar Pradesh
•    Warangal is in Telangana, which is ruled by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
•    Chandigarh and Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Islands were also among the winners of this round.
•    Assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management systems, efficient urban mobility and public transportation, IT connectivity, e-governance and citizen participation are some of the highlights of the smart city project.
•    It aims to transform 100 cities by 2019-20, with the Union government providing financial support of Rs. 48,000 crore over five years.